For Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar, the pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway is right now the best opening duo in the IPL. Speaking with Star Sports, as the broadcaster builds up for the IPL 2024, the 74-year-old commentator named the CSK duo as the best opening combination in the IPL currently.
He omitted RCB’s Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, and even Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway were key cogs in CSK’s title win last season, with the New Zealander being the Man of the Match in the final against the Gujarat Titans. In IPL 2023, Gaikwad scored 590 runs with 4 fifties and Conway scored 672 runs with 6 fifties.
Sunil Gavaskar observed that the success of Gaikwad and Conway at the top eased down pressure on the middle-order, which allowed the likes of Rahane, Dube, and Rayudu to play with freedom and aggression from the onset of their innings.
“That’s been their advantage over the years. All these years, they have always had batters at the top who can take the attack to the opposition from the first ball itself and then they have got the finishers as well,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“I feel their left and right-handed opening combination of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway is probably the best opening pair in the IPL because they always gave good starts last year. So the pressure was slightly eased on the players who used to come at No. 4 and No. 5.”
Sunil Gavaskar backs MS Dhoni’s CSK to qualify for playoffs once again
CSK have finished in the top four in the league stage 12 times out of their 14 seasons. Sunil Gavaskar is confident that MS Dhoni’s side will once again reach the playoffs.
“So, I feel CSK will definitely come in the top four as always. You cannot say any team ‘definitely yes’ as favourites. However, the way the Chennai Super Kings have performed for so many years, they have qualified in 12 of the 16 editions. So it’s likely to happen for the 13th time,” the former India skipper added.
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